This one is rather tragic. The NTSB investigation found faults with both of the pilots, with the operator and with the FAA. In fact they repeated recommendations to FAA from earlier investigations to demand that not just the major airlines, but also much smaller operators should set up safety management systems (SMS) and flight data monitoring (FDM), which would likely have caught the glaring deviations from the standard operating procedures (SOP) of the pilots. Fortunately they had no passengers and nobody on the ground was killed.
Both the pilot in command (PIC) and second in command (SIC) had prior performance deficiencies, like not being proactive with check lists. The SIC, while having a commercial pilots license (CPL), multi-engine and instrument ratings, and a Learjet type rating (though strictly as a SIC), performed so badly when he was hired by the operator that:[1]
After the SIC’s simulator training session on September 18, 2016, the instructor noted the following:
- Struggled with normal procedures
- Did not perform takeoff checks correctly or know what to look for during the checks
- Did not know how to start the engines
- Crashed on first takeoff due to incorrect flight director settings
- Unable to control speed and altitude during the stall series
- Flew inverted on unusual attitude module
- Crashed on landing during an ILS approach
On the accident flight:
- The flight plan filed by the PIC had a cruising altitude of FL270 for a 80 NM flight! (That would put top of descent, ToD, 27 kft * 3 = 81 NM from the destination!)
- The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the flight had recorded an average of one expletive every 14 seconds! (With the very most of them before things really went askew!)
- No checklist were completed!
- They did not listen to the full ATIS for Teterboro and mainly looked for QNH! Winds were gusty.
- While the SIC by operator SOP was not allowed to be pilot flying (PF) the PIC had him do that, even when the SIC requested to hand over the controls!
- Even though the autopilot was engaged the SIC had serious troubles managing the throttle to maintain airspeed (this aircraft did not have autothrottle, A/T)!
- No landing briefing was performed!
- Instead of going around the PIC tried to do a less than 1 NM S turn with two about 90 degree turns to the runway! (that is when the PIC lost control due to stall and loss of control)
In essence I would expect this to sometimes happen in multiplayer, but not to happen in real life.
Air Safety Institute,
Accident Case Study: Just a Short Flight (18 min, published February 28, 2020)
Full NTSB board panel:
NTSBgov,
NTSB Board Meeting for Investigation of May 15, 2017, Learjet crash near Teterboro, New Jersey (
2 h 3 min, published Mars 13, 2019)
Full accident report:
National Transportation Safety Board,
Departure From Controlled Flight - Trans-Pacific Air Charter, LLC - Learjet 35A, N452DA - Teterboro, New Jersey, May 15, 2017, Accident Report, NTSB/AAR-19/02, PB2019-100271, March 12, 2019 (PDF file, 4.3 MB).
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[1] See page 10 of accident report.
FlightGear Forum
by Johan G » Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:23 pm 
